Homeowners Prepare For Winter Weather

Sylvia GonzalezNewsWest 9

ODESSA - The cold weather is here, but believe it or not, many homeowners learned their lesson from the last winter freeze Odessa saw about two years ago. Residents were not the only ones that learned their lesson, stores around town appear they also learned a thing or two.

"We've actually beefed up on our PVC, all the joints, the elbows, everything. We learned our lesson from two years ago when that happened we were actually able to resupply pretty quick and take care of a lot of people but we beefed up our supply," Eric Seuss, Store Manager at Ace Hardware Stores in Odessa, said.

Seuss says many Odessa residents learned a hard lesson, two years ago, when their water pipes busted in the frigid temperatures. He says in the past few weeks, he has seen more customers prepping for the cold weather but some have been prepared for about a year.

"I think last year a lot of people came in and bought loads of pipe wrapping, they actually bought extra just in case something like this would happen," Seuss said.

Some procrastinators tend to do rushed, last minute home modifications during the cold days, but Seuss recommends for homeowners to always make sure their insulation is placed right and wrapping around piping be secured tight. If you want to avoid an icy sidewalk, here's another great tip.

"There is rock salt that you can buy that they use it for making ice cream and stuff like that, it's just regular rock salts, really any kind of salt will melt it," Seuss said.

Seuss says many people who are moving to the area are living in RV's, he mentions that type of piping is more difficult to repair, therefore owners need to prepare in advance unless they want to repair it.

"The underneath are pretty opened and that's where all the piping is, so it's harder to wrap them and prepare, but it's also harder to fix them so it's probably better if they do prepare them and get them pipe wrapped and insulated, because to repair something like that it's usually under a crawl space and it's difficult to do," Seuss said.

Another thing Seuss recommended was for pet owners who keep their pets outdoors, using a brood light will provide enough heat to keep pets warm during these cold days.

A former Ector County Sheriff's Deputy has been sentenced to federal prison for extortion. Oscar Limon was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. We're told as part of the sentence Limon will have to pay a $13,200 fine and perform 100 hours of community service while on three years' supervised release after completing his prison term.

A former Ector County Sheriff's Deputy has been sentenced to federal prison for extortion. Oscar Limon was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. We're told as part of the sentence Limon will have to pay a $13,200 fine and perform 100 hours of community service while on three years' supervised release after completing his prison term.